Heung-min Son scored twice as Tottenham thrashed Everton 4-0 in their first home game of the season.
The Spurs captain doubled their lead in the first half, after Yves Bissouma’s fine strike broke the deadlock, and Son added a fourth late on.
Cristian Romero made it 3-0 earlier in the second half as Ange Postecoglou’s side punished a depleted Everton.
Here are three Spurs talking points from the victory...
Spurs produce statement win to kickstart season
Were Spurs outstanding or Everton just appalling?
The answer may only become clear in the fullness of time but this should go down as a hugely encouraging afternoon for Spurs, who got their season up and running with a big score to back up a dominant performance.
After failing to build on their first-half dominance at Leicester on Monday, Ange Postecoglou’s side kept up the pressure for the best part of 90 minutes against Sean Dyche’s sorry Toffees, with contributions from across the team.
Spurs were sharp, menacing and displayed a ruthless edge, even if they could and probably should have scored even more.
Son will rightly get a significant share of the plaudits for scoring twice but Spurs’ best players were probably centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.
Romero marked his 100th appearance for the club by heading home the third goal from James Maddison’s corner, before van de Ven assisted Son with an extraordinary dribble of nearly 60 yards, from the edge of one box to another.
They were both outstanding defensively, mopping up any hint of an Everton counter-attack.
The visitors were, though, poor, following up their 3-0 defeat to Brighton on the opening day with another abject display.
Spurs will face tougher sides but if they can play like this more regularly, they should beat the League’s top teams too.
Bissouma starts road to redemption
For Yves Bissouma, a first Tottenham goal was the perfect on-pitch response to his one-game club ban for filming himself inhaling laughing gas.
The Malian’s sweet, first-time strike from the edge of the box, which rattled in off the crossbar, broke the deadlock after 14 minutes and went some way to justifying Postecoglou’s decision to immediately recall the midfielder.
Bissouma is still “building bridges” and will not have fully redeemed himself until he has consistently behaved off the pitch, according to Postecoglou.
But perhaps the laughing gas incident could prove an important junction in Bissouma’s Spurs career…
Certainly, he remains Postecoglou’s most experienced option at No6 and on his day he is an outstanding player.
As Spurs’ deepest midfielder behind two attacking No10s in Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, Bissouma had an important job against the Toffees and he was combative without the ball and creative in possession.
If this was his first step on the road to redemption, it was a hugely positive one.
Encouraging debut for Odobert
If Bissouma starting was a little surprising, Postecoglou’s most unexpected call was a full debut for 19-year-old Wilson Odobert, who came straight in on the left of a fluid Spurs’ front five.
The young Frenchman – who was not in the squad against Leicester as he waited for a work permit – was a regular in the Premier League last season, albeit for relegated Burnley, and clearly Postecoglou believes he is ready to make an immediate impression.
And he did. From the outset, Odobert was a livewire, offering Spurs width and directness down the left and linking up well with Maddison.
His first touch was outstanding but, for all his good positions, he lacked a final ball.
Odobert was, though, up against a novice right back in teenager Roman Dixon, who was making his League debut. It is fair to say that tougher tests await for the winger.
There was also a nervy moment in the second half, when his loose pass led to an Everton counter and Jesper Lindstrom extended tested Guglielmo Vicario.
This was, nonetheless, an encouraging debut from a player who looks set to play a significant role this season.
